New scoring model helps target card offers

TransUnion and Edgar, Dunn & Company have released a new scoring model to help credit card marketers better target their offers.

The Revolver Model is marketed primarily to credit card issuers, banks and other financial institutions that issue credit cards. It shows consumer preferences on managing credit card balances, credit card use and use of other forms of payment, such as debit cards and cash, and is intended to help card issuers manage and segment product portfolios and focus offers to new and upgrading customers.

“The most value will probably be to large issuers with portfolios of more product types, but it can also can be used in smaller portfolios, to understand the right type of product to offer during acquisitions,” said Dave Ellis, senior director at TransUnion. “All of the issuers are looking for ways to improve acceptance of new offers, to grow portfolios and to be efficient in acquiring new accounts.”

Ellis said the data will definitely be deployed in direct campaigns, and that one of TransUnion's largest clients is currently running a test campaign with the data.

Traditional usage models tend to rely on past behavior data from a single card issuer. The differentiating factor for Revolver is that it surveyed consumers directly, allowing them to report on multiple card brands. The model is based on a numerical system, allowing users to customize it and base consumer thresholds on individual company values.

“Companies have used credit scores for quite some time, and this is a twist on that concept,” said Beth Costa, director at Edgar, Dunn & company. “The Revolver model gives a holistic view of the wallet and can bring in what is the consumer's attitude towards revolving balances and rewards, and how they use debit cards, cash, checks and the whole equation.”

The Revolver Model is built on data from the PaymentDynamicsSM 2007 Preferred Payments Study — a survey of more than 10,000 consumers that was jointly conducted by TransUnion and Edgar, Dunn & Company. Models built from the survey data are part of the PaymentDynamics Suite, introduced in July 2007. The suite is marketed to retail banks, financial services companies, credit card issuers and card associations as a way to focus direct product offers.